Jess Newton is an artist from Breaux Bridge, LA, she is an avid community beautification artist who specializes in public art, fine art painting, and wearable art. Her work is often requested by local business owners in the city of Breaux Bridge, Bayou Teche Tourism Center, St. Martin Tourism Commission and community leaders. Newton’s growing popularity in St. Martin Parish is credited to her mission to strengthen connections to her community through researching local architectural history, cultural heritage, and the evolution of the festival culture through explorations on canvas, fabric, and public art murals. Newton’s artworks can be seen publicly on storefront windows, local business walls, and an electric box (Roots of St. Martin) in downtown Breaux Bridge. She also has cultural-themed murals at the Bayou Teche Visitors Center(C’est Bon) and The St. Martin Tourism Center in progress (Visit St. Martin) with many other commissioned community projects scheduled to be completed this year throughout St. Martin Parish. Newton is a graduate of Breaux Bridge Sr. High and has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Digital Media and a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She has established a small business offering murals, fine arts, and artist mentoring. Newton continues to develop her art business skills and professional development through Continuing Education classes at ULL, Opportunity Machine, SBA.gov, SBDC at ULL, and workshops at the ACA. Newton also leads a volunteer group called the Breaux Bridge Volunteer Beautification group created on 3/2023 to raise over $12,000 to build the Breaux Bridge Veterans Home post 133 a new sign. Newton is a member of the Breaux Bridge Area Chamber of Commerce and the Breaux Bridge Lion Club. Newton is honored for the opportunity beautify her community. Artist Statement Vessels of Memory. I get a thrill when I see an old photograph of my hometown. Inspired by the stories they produce from living memories, I explore these subjects and how they can help me connect to my cultural past. It’s amazing to me how the revival of small deteriorating images painted larger than life become vessels of memory. I reconstruct places and events from the past and invite the viewer to enter the space, the vessel. In the vessels of my paintings, beautiful notes sing out of viewers and seep into younger generations like the song of Cajun accent. I find my work has become valuable to my community in inspiring future generations to feel connected to our culture. My work carries themes of Cajun and Creole culture, natural landscapes and musical roots. My designs illustrate a hope for the future survival of my culture with dreamy scenes of local inspired landscapes growing into musical instruments, people or places. Walls of Gratitude. My mural themes explore connections and collections. I connect my Cajun/Creole culture in photorealistic scenes of relaxing landscapes stylized in bold colors. I often paint in palettes of limited colors making my scenes high contrast. My designs usually incorporate a collection of typography elements stating phrases of gratitude inspired by my community’s spoken languages. My signature style of illustrated banners rolling in and out of the space are often connected by decorative scrollwork encrusted with a collection of musical instruments.